In order to get the “full story” out to Civil War and other history enthusiasts. Mr. Harris has established this website that includes a couple of chapters from the book, the bibliography, and a few essays and articles. Check it out.

Mike Noirot has a post up about First Bull Run at his Civil War Battles and Battlefields blog. He also includes links to his photos of the battlefield, and to his summary of the battle (I have a few quibbles – for instance, I think he mixes up which Confederate brigades belonged to Beauregard’s army and which belonged to Johnston’s) but it’s worth a look.

On this the 149th anniversary of First Bull Run, we keep in mind that it’s never too early to make plans for celebrating the sesquicentennial in 2011. Here’s an article with some info on planned events in Manassas next year.

Lincoln, in contrast [to Jeff Davis],evolved a clear strategic vision, but he failed for years to make his generals implement it.

Here’s where I’m bothered: the statement implies that this vision of Lincoln’s evolved quickly relative to his attempts to get his generals to do what he wanted. And also implicit is the notion that he clearly and effectively communicated this vision to those same generals. I’m not sure I’m in agreement. Has anyone read this yet?

The other day I posted an observation on Facebook. It didn’t generate much conversation, so I thought I’d see what it attracts here:

I was watching Dr. Carol Reardon on PCN [Gettysburg College Civil War Institute talks from Summer 2010 Conference] talk about West Point in 1860. Glad to see her confirm what I’ve long suspected – that Jomini was not as respected or preferred at the Academy as we have been led to believe. After I finished his book [The Art of Warused as a textbook] all I could think was “What’s the rumpus?”

The faculty at West Point had problems with Jomini. In fact, one of the reasons they used his textbook was that they already had it, and getting a different one was not in the budget.

Another interesting point raised in the 1860 study conducted by Jefferson Davis’ War Dept was that that cadets rarely continued study of military theory after graduation – almost never, actually. So, were grads – like Lee – who were not students when Jomini was being studied very familiar with him?

I feel like historians spend way too much time considering the influence of Jomini and far too little considering the writings/teachings of Halleck and Mahan. But what do I know?

Dulce bellum inexpertis

“I am sending you these little incidents as I hear them well authenticated. They form, to the friends of the parties, part of the history of the glorious 21st. More anon.”

About

Hello! I’m Harry Smeltzer and welcome to Bull Runnings, where you'll find my digital history project on the First Battle of Bull Run which is organized under the Bull Run Resources section. I'll also post my thoughts on the processes behind the project and commentary on the campaign, but pretty much all things Civil War are fair game. You'll only find musings on my “real job” or my personal life when they relate to this project. My mother always told me "never discuss politics or religion in mixed company”, and that's sound advice where current events are concerned.

The Project

This site is more than a blog. Bull Runnings also hosts digitized material pertaining to First Bull Run. In the Bull Run Resources link in the masthead and also listed below are links to Orders of Battle, After Action Reports, Official Correspondence, Biographical Sketches, Diaries, Letters, Memoirs, Newspaper Accounts and much, much more. Take some time to surf through the material. This is a work in process with no end in sight, so check back often!